How To Become An Auto Detailer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an auto detailer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Auto detailers are responsible for detailing vehicles according to the customer's instructions. They work in car dealerships, auto-detailing shops, or mobile services. Primarily, they clean the exterior and interior of automobiles. Their duties revolve around cleaning mechanical parts like the engine, waxing, and buffing the vehicle's body. Asides from that, they prepare new, used, and demo vehicles for sales. They remove stickers, add decals, and check vehicles to confirm they are clean. Additionally, they use special equipment to dry the inside and outside surfaces.

A minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent is the educational requirement for this position. You may be required to have a valid driver's license with a clean driving record. You must possess customer service, attention to detail, communication, multitasking, observational, problem-solving, and time management skills. Auto detailers are paid about $24,893 yearly. Their salary ranges $17,000 and $36,000.

ScoreAuto DetailerUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,746

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%

Asian 4.47%

Black or African American 12.72%

Hispanic or Latino 15.47%

Unknown 4.92%

White 61.55%

Gender

female 10.75%

male 89.25%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an auto detailer

Explore auto detailer education requirements

Most common auto detailer degrees

High School Diploma

57.3 %

Diploma

14.8 %

Associate

13.5 %

Start to develop specific auto detailer skills

Skills	Percentages
Shampoo Carpets	36.76%
General Maintenance	19.23%
Service Tools	6.74%
Customer Vehicles	6.43%
Engine Compartment	5.72%

Complete relevant auto detailer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New auto detailers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an auto detailer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real auto detailer resumes.

Research auto detailer duties and responsibilities

Provide professional automobile detailing services with a variety of cleaning techniques and products to ensure the desired level of superior cleanliness.
Maintain the dealership grounds by mowing, weed eating and maintaining mowing equipment.

Prepare your auto detailer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your auto detailer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an auto detailer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable auto detailer resume templates

Build a professional auto detailer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your auto detailer resume.